Cota and Terrence Newby reached
an agreement
in an Orange County courtroom Thursday
morning and will now turn their attention to
meeting the terms of that agreement.

The players must repay the victims' medical bills
and serve 10 hours of community service.
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, the
pair has until May 5 to pay the $3,450 in medical
bills incurred by the plaintiffs and until May 30 to
finish the community service time.

Cota, the school's all-time assists leader with 1,030 to his credit, and
Newby, a career reserve, both seemed relieved to have the situation
behind them. Both continued their contentions of innocence following the
outcome Thursday morning.

"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Cota told the News &
Observer. "We were involved in trying to break up the fight."

HILLSBOROUGH  UNC-Chapel Hillbasketball
players Ed Cota and Terrance Newby are trying to avoid a day in court on charges
they attacked a fellow student on Halloween.

Cota and Newby had little to say
as they walked into the Orange County Courthouse.

The UNC players are charged with
five counts each of assault in connection with a Halloween night brawl on campus.

Co-defendants Edward Capel and Trayon
Bolden are each charged with two counts of assault.

The judge in the case against Cota
and Newby has a policy of sending these types of cases to mediation, in hopes
the two parties can reach a compromise and avoid a trial. And that is where
he sent this case as well.

The defendants and the six alleged
victims met face-to-face with a mediator Wednesday, in hopes of reaching an
out-of-court compromise.

"I think generally the mediators
meet with each side -- the victims and the defendants -- get their versions
of what happened, and at some point they try to bring them together to see if
there is a way to resolve it short of coming in to court," says prosecutor
Jim Woodall.

No attorneys are allowed in the
talks, and nothing that is said can be used in court.

Prosecutors say mediation is common
in this type of case.

"It is typical, and that is
one of the things the Judge stressed. That that would be typically what he did
in this case and he was going to treat this case just like he did every other
case," Woodall says.

The defendants and the victims spent
hours talking Wednesday, but they were not able to reach a deal.

Cota and Newby's attorney would
not say what the sticking point was, but he is hopeful the two sides will meet
again and resolve this case without a trial.

If the case is not resolved through
mediation, it will go to trial in late February.